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Ella Minnow Pea

by Mark Dunn

Ella Minnow Pea is an epistolary novel by Mark
Dunn, copyrighted in 2001. The full title of the hardcover
version is Ella Minnow Pea: a progressively lipogrammatic
epistolary fable, while the paperback version is Ella
Minnow Pea : A Novel in Letters.

Plot summary

Ella Minnow Pea is set on the fictitious island of
Nollop, an isle off the coast of South Carolina, and home to
Nevin Nollop, the supposed creator of the well-known pangram
"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." This sentence is
preserved on a memorial to its creator on the island, and is
taken very seriously by the government of the island. Throughout
the book, tiles containing the letters fall from the inscription
beneath the statue, and as each one does, the island's
government bans the contained letter's use from written or
spoken communication.

One Minute Ella Minnow Pea

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A penalty system is enforced for using the forbidden
characters, with public censure for a first offense, lashing or
stocks (violator's choice) upon a second offense and banishment
from the island nation upon the third. By the end of the novel,
most of the island's inhabitants have either been banished, or
have left of their own accord.

The plot is conveyed through mail or notes sent between
various characters, though with the banned letters missing,
creating passages that become more and more phonetically or
creatively spelled, and requiring more effort of the reader to
interpret.

The island's high council becomes more and more nonsensical
as time progresses and the alphabet diminishes, promoting Nollop
to divine status. Uncompromising in their enforcement of
Nollop's 'divine will' they offer only one hope to the
frustrated islanders: to disprove Nollop's omniscience by
finding a pangram of 32 letters (in contrast to Nollop's 35).

With this goal in mind "Enterprise 32" is started, a project
involving many of the novel's main characters. With but five
characters left (LMNOP) the elusive phrase is eventually
discovered by Ella in one of her father's earlier letters: "Pack
my box with five dozen liquor jugs." The council accepts this
and restores the right to all 26 letters to the populace.

Plot summary

The plot is conveyed through mail or notes sent between
various characters, though with the banned letters missing,
creating passages that become more and more phonetically or
creatively spelled, and requiring more effort of the reader to
interpret.

Setting

The novel takes place on the imaginary island nation of
Nollop. Nollop is 63 square miles (160 km2) in area
and is 21 miles (34 km) southeast of Charleston, South Carolina.
Originally called Utopianna, the island was renamed in honor of
native Nevin Nollop, who created the pangram "The quick brown
fox jumps over the lazy dog." There is a statue of Nevin Nollop
and a cenotaph beneath with the pangram on it.

Major themes

Totalitarianism

One of the main themes of the story is totalitarianism, in
that the government attempts to control every aspect of written
communication among the citizens. Once the laws begin to be
passed, the people of Nollop are scared to even attempt to rebel
against the council for fear of the harsh penalties.

This theme is brought to the forefront in the first letter of
the novel. Ella writes to Tassie saying that "in the end, our
assessments and opinions counted for (and continue to count for)
precious little, and we have kept our public speculation to a
minimum for fear of government reprisal"
.

Freedom of Speech

The novel also addresses the importance of freedom of speech.
The restriction upon written language in the story is caused by
the religious belief in Nollop and his omnipotence; a critique
on ideologies held in certain religious beliefs.

Not only are the citizens of Nollop not allowed to certain
letters, but they are not allowed to speak out about how unjust
the new laws are. If they interpret this particular situation
any other way besides that of the council, they will be
punished. In the council's letter to the citizens, the council
writes that no alternate interpretations can be made because
they are considered heresy, and heresy will be punished.

Good Citizenship vs. Freedom

The citizens of Nollop are torn between being good citizens
by following the unjust laws or rebelling against the government
by fighting for their precious freedoms. They realize that if
they speak out for their freedom of speech, they will be
punished. Many decide that living on the island under this
tyranny is not worth it, so they rebel in order to be banished.
Others rebel to stir up the emotions of the other citizens.
There are many that just follow the orders of the council, but,
once affected by them, decide that a change must be made. The
citizens have two distinct choices: submit to the rules and live
a life of misery or stand up for what is rightfully theirs and
live a life of freedom.

Awards and nominations

I REALLY ENJOYED THE BOOK AS WELL AND I LOVE HOW YOU
HAVE YOUR OWN LITTLE SHOW TELLING ABOUT BOOKS MAKES MY LIFE EASIER
DONT GOT TO LOOK JUST LISTEN :)

I'm having to read this book for English, and so
far it's the worst book I think I've read. I cant hardly understand
it.

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